“We were on a yacht. I fell overboard... right into a bloom of jellyfish.” Her shoulders curl, and she draws her knees closer to her chest. “They kept stinging me. Over and over. It was so dark down there. I couldn’t see anything. I didn’t know which way was up. I just... froze.
“You have no idea how painful it is,” she says, with a barely audible tremble in her voice that her body mimics, “to fight for a gulp of air... and only get water. It burns. Like your lungs are on fire from the inside.”
She swallows hard.
“I was dead when my father pulled me out. A minute. That’show long it took them to bring me back.” She chokes out. “Going to pools from time to time is my way of fighting that fear. I still can’t get myself to go underwater. But I will...I will.”
Her head dips while she keeps fiddling with the blanket, like shame is soaking her more than the water did.
“I need to talk to her. We’ll catch up later if she feels like it.”
Carter comes back, pressing a kiss atop her head before turning for the door, while Connor stays there, hands intertwined behind his neck.
“I’m sorry, Principessa! I didn’t mean—”
“It’s not your fault,” Summer interrupts.
He flashes her another apologetic look before heading out.
“Do you need anything else before we go?” Link asks.
“I’ve got her,” I say.
Dean stays there unmoving.
“It takes immense strength to fight your fear the way you do.”
I’m kinda jealous I didn’t offer her that reassurance myself.
“See you later,” Dean says on his way out.
“Your fears. Now.” Barely a second after the door closes, I open my mouth to demand answers. “All of them. It killed me not knowing what was happening to you, or how to help you.” She looks at me, sorrow collected between her brows. “I was patient with you, not pushing you to reveal what you weren’t ready for, but I want your fears now. I want to know what to protect you from.”
Her lips part before hesitation seals them to the words I need to hear.
“Don’t make me beg.” My voice is strained with pain because she’s still unwilling to trust me in full.
With a hand at her nape, I draw her closer to me.
“It’s losing the people I love. Losing you is the one thing that truly terrifies me now,” she admits, inches from my lips.
“One less thing to fear then, because you’re never losing me. Even if one day you try.”
“I’m not that crazy,” she chimes in, and my lips seal on hers, holding her in my arms, hoping she never has to find out how serious I am about the fact she could never lose me.
There’s nowhere I wouldn’t follow her.
Chapter 38
Atlas
Four days later
Link
We need to talk. Come ALONE to Hollow Bend.
My friend’s text is the only thing pulling me from a fantasy where I’ve already grabbed mine and Summer’s passports and booked us tickets to her shit-hit-the-fan getaway destination—Spain.
